Tragedy Hits Church A 2nd Time

The baptisms of three children at St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church on Chicago`s Northwest Side went on as scheduled Sunday, but the joyous rite was dampened because Rev. Ronan Pozen wasn`t there.

Pozen, one of the church`s newest and best-loved associate pastors, was killed just hours before in a strange traffic accident in McHenry County. Pozen, 31, died when his car was struck from behind by another car as both drivers were blinded by thick plumes of smoke from a paint factory fire near Hebron, police said.

It is the second time in three years that the Chicago church has lost a young priest to tragedy.

``Dear friends,`` said Rev. Edward Grace Sunday as he stood before a small crowd of proud parents while bits of red and blue sunlight, refracted through the stained glass window, speckled his white vestments. ``We now ask God to give these children new life. . . . You have become a new creation in the world of Christ.``

Talk of a new life was part of the day`s ceremony, but it had special meaning to the parish, which struggled Sunday to find an explanation for the sudden death of a friend.

It was Grace who received the phone call that Pozen had been killed in an automobile accident as he drove home from a vacation with friends in McHenry County.

He has regarded Pozen as a friend since Pozen`s arrival at St. Francis Borgia two years ago.

Police said Pozen was southbound on Illinois Highway 47 and had slowed down near State Line Road while struggling to drive through clouds of dense smoke from a fire at Crown Industrial Products Co. Inc. The company makes paint, lubricating oils, grease and other chemicals.

Pozen`s car was struck from behind by a car driven by Steven Scheifley, 47, of Woodstock, police said. Pozen was pronounced dead at the scene. Rev. David Ford, 30, of Chicago, a passenger in Pozen`s car, was admitted for observation at Woodstock Memorial Hospital and released Sunday.

Scheifley was treated at Woodstock Memorial and released. He has not been ticketed for any offense, police said. Poor visibility from the smoke was the likely cause of the accident, according to the McHenry County Sheriff`s Department.

Fire and police officials believe the fire may have started in the warehouse portion of the building, which stretches along State Line Road near the site of the accident.

The fire leveled the building, according to the Hebron Fire Department, one of 11 fire and emergency services units from McHenry County and Wisconsin to respond to the fire. No one was injured in the fire. Investigators sifted through the debris Sunday, searching for a cause of the blaze.

Meanwhile, Pozen`s family sifted through the pastor`s belongings nearly 70 miles away in the church`s rectory, church officials said.

At the same time, Grace struggled through the baptism ceremony over the chatter of restless children.

``I am very sad,`` Grace said. ``But when you are very busy, you have to deal with what`s here. . . . Ronan`s death and our belief in the

transformation of earthly life into eternal life makes it easier.``

Still, he acknowledges that this racially and ethnically mixed parish at 8033 W. Addison St., where visitors chat in Tagalog-the language of the Filipino community-and Italian, is reeling from the second death of a new associate pastor in three years.

In Oct. 1988, Rev. Carl Szukala, 36, who had been at the church for only three years, died of a heart attack. Pozen had come to take his place in 1989, Grace said.

But the children at the church school where Pozen taught religion may be the ones who feel the loss most, said Rev. Ralph Strand, who met Pozen for the first time 10 days ago when Strand became a pastor at the church.

``It is very sad for the church and for me personally, because we had made so many plans,`` Strand said. ``I was just at several meetings where parents came up to me and said I`m so glad we have Rev. Pozen. He is really good with the kids.``

Christopher Costales said Pozen left a lasting impression in his short time at the church.

``He was a very nice pastor, very active in the community and with the kids,`` said Costales, whose family came to St. Francis Borgia Sunday to witness the baptism of his son, Christopher Jr.

``I was shocked. He just came here. This is a sad thing for my parish,``

he said.

A funeral mass for Pozen has been tentatively scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday in St. Francis Borgia Church.